Dismissed Police Officers Arrested Among Syndicate For Hijacking Trucks Loaded With Goods

LUCKY L. AKRA

Two dismissed Police Sergeants have been arrested alongside other members of a syndicate, which specialised in hijacking trucks loaded with goods along the express roads.

They were arrested by the Operatives of Ogun State Police Command through proactive response and intelligent gathering with companies’ goods along Sagamu-Ijebu-Ode Expressway.

According to the report sent by the Ogun State Police Spokesperson, DSP Abimbola Oyeyemi, the suspects were arrested following a distress call received at Odogbolu Divisional Headquarters on 8th December, 2021, at about 3:00am
There was an information that a gang of armed robbers had blocked the expressway and hijacked a truck loaded with blue band products of Unilever Nigeria Ltd.

The robbers overpowered the driver and motor-boy, took them to the bush and tied them down there before taking away the truck.
On the strength of the distress call, the DPO Odogbolu Division, SP Awoniyi Adekunle, quickly led his patrol team to the scene, but the hoodlums had moved away from there before their arrival. They started tracing the hoodlums based on the description of the hijacked truck. Their efforts paid off when the truck was sighted at Nairaland area of the expressway moving towards Ijebu-Ode Road.

They were given a hot chase and three amongst the hoodlums namely Musa Ibrahim, Shola Abolade  and Edwin Ayeye, were arrested while others escaped in a Honda space wagon car.
In the morning of the same day, the escaped ones contacted a lawyer and informed him that the Police had unlawfully arrested some of their friends. They engaged the service of the lawyer to solicit for their release from Police custody. On getting to the office of the DPO, the lawyer was told to produce those who briefed him about the case before those in Police custody can be released.
The lawyer there and then called them to come as the case is about to be settled. The duo of Nwafor Onyebuchi and Idakole Benjamin, who were later identified as dismissed Police Sergeants, then came around and they were subsequently arrested by the DPO and his men.

On interrogation, the suspects confessed to being the ones that blocked the expressway and hijacked the loaded truck from the driver after tying down the driver and his motor-boy.

CP Lanre Bankole ordered the suspects to be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department for discreet investigation.

According to the report, on getting to the SCIID, the suspects after thorough investigation confessed that they have so far hijacked four trucks loaded with different types of goods, such as pampers, Nutri C drinks, Blue band and Honeywell flour. 

The value of all the hijacked goods is estimated to be N25.688m 
They confessed further that they have a readymade buyer, in one Alhaji Jamiu, who lived in Kwara State. The said Alhaji Jamiu was traced to Erin-Ile in Kwara State, where he was promptly arrested.
Their major receiver and financier, Ikem Ejimofor, was traced to Jakande Estate in Lagos, where he was also arrested.

While Alhaji Jamiu confessed that it was his own truck the suspects used in blocking the road when the last truck was hijacked, Ikem Ejimofor on his part confessed to being the receiver of all the robbed goods, which he bought at a very ridiculous price.

The suspects arrested were Onyegbuchi Nwafor, Idakole Benjamin, Ibrahim Musa, Abolade Shola, Ikem Ejimofor, Adebayo Jamiu and Ayeye Edwin.

The Ogun State Police Boss, CP Lanre Bankole, who commended his men for their painstaking investigation, directed that the suspects must be arraigned in Court without delay.